California politicians and educators on Wednesday called on the commission seeking to revoke accreditation from City College of San Francisco to change its rules and give the school more time to fix its problems and avoid closure.

The unified call came in response to a Chronicle story on Wednesday revealing that the commission can extend the revocation deadline without jeopardizing its standing with the U.S. Department of Education, which oversees accrediting commissions.

"The 80,000 students, faculty and staff at City College need and deserve more time. I urge the Accreditation Commission to extend its July 31 deadline," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough.

But the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges - which found in 2012 that City College's fiscal and governance systems were out of compliance with accrediting standards - has repeatedly refused requests to extend the deadline, saying the Education Department bars extensions.

Now, however, the Education Department has made it clear that the commission is free to adopt a policy allowing it to extend the deadline for City College for as long as it takes the college to comply. College officials say they need 12 to 18 months.

The commission will meet June 4-6, but its members have not said if they will consider extending the deadline. (The college has a temporary reprieve, pending the outcome of a trial set for October. If the commission prevails in the case against it, the college would lose public funding and have to close.)

On Wednesday, Speier and other college advocates called on the commission to make the change.

"Given this new news, there's no good reason why they wouldn't if they really care about the 80,000 students," said Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. "They need to extend the deadline."

Ting said he will author a resolution for lawmakers to urge the commission to do so.

State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he will also ask the Legislature to formally request that the commission extend the deadline.

"Now that we know they can do this, I support a coordinated statement from elected leaders to encourage them to do just that," Leno said.

"The Department of Education has removed the last possible roadblock," said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. "Now it's time for the commission to do the right thing."

California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris called the decision by the Education Department welcome news. "We encourage the (commission) to move to quickly remove the termination ruling and allow the college the time necessary to complete the recovery process."

At City College, where officials have posted an online "Roadmap to Success" showing progress on 350 items needed to comply with accreditation standards, Chancellor Art Tyler said he appreciates the "the clarity the Department of Education has provided."

"I hope the commission will take the department's response as guidance to give us the time to finish the work we've been doing," Tyler said.